Feb. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Aereo Inc., the online-television
company that’s battling broadcasters in the Supreme Court,
reopened its service to New York subscribers after regaining
enough capacity to handle demand.

People who were on a waiting list are being notified first
before the company reopens its website for sign-ups, Virginia
Lam, a spokeswoman, said in a statement today. The company had
stopped accepting new users in New York about a week ago.

Aereo uses thousands of dime-sized antennas to obtain
broadcast signals without paying fees to networks such as CBS
Corp. and 21st Century Fox Inc., drawing their ire. The company,
backed by Barry Diller, operates in nine other U.S. cities, with
plans to expand after it completed a $34 million round of
funding last month. It hasn’t said how many subscribers it has
in New York or elsewhere.

Just as it reopens in New York, Aereo has reached capacity
in Atlanta. The company will notify customers there when new
subscriptions will be offered, Lam said.

The Supreme Court agreed earlier this month to hear an
appeal by media companies including CBS, Fox, Walt Disney Co.’s
ABC and Comcast Corp.’s NBCUniversal, which contend Aereo
violates their copyrights. Unlike Aereo, cable and satellite
carriers pay the broadcasters for the right to distribute their
programming, even though it’s available for free over the air
through an antenna.

Fox is optimistic that the Supreme Court will rule in its
favor this year, the company said today on a conference call
with analysts.